European funds should not be provided to organizations that attack European citizens and people in distress at sea, 42 humanitarian and civil society groups have said in a letter to EU Commissioners today.
The organisations include SOS MEDITERRANEE, whose rescue ship Ocean Viking was attacked in international waters in August by a boat which evidence indicates was transferred by Italy under an EU-funded programme. Signatories also include Refugees in Libya, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières, ActionAid International and dozens of other organisations from at least ten countries across Europe and the MENA region.
The letter argues that EU and Italian funding to the LCG has “enabled and legitimised abuses”, and points out that the EU earlier this year was found by the EU Ombudsman to have committed maladministration by refusing to disclose the “do-no harm” assessments of its Libya projects.
It points to a long record of incidents of violence during interceptions against people in distress by the Libyan Coast Guard, and accuses officials of overseeing a “culture of impunity for violence.” It also warns that the breakdown of the rule of law in the Mediterranean is risking the EU’s current drive for a greater geopolitical role.
The letter asks for the European Commission to suspend cooperation with Libya in the field of search and rescue, as well as urging Italy to terminate its 2017 Memorandum of Understanding with the country. It also calls on the Commission to finance and coordinate a state-led European search and rescue programme in the Central Mediterranean, to support states in opening safe routes for refugees and migrants to escape Libya, and to ensure that victims of human rights abuses committed by EU-backed Libyan actors can access justice and reparation.
The letter is one of several actions to demand accountability being pursued by organisations both at EU level and in states, particularly those with crew members affected by the attack.
David Yambio's, President of Refugees in Libya and victim of EU-funded abuses, said: “We, Refugees in Libya and I, personally, have been abducted with the boats you financed. We have been held in arbitrary detention in the prisons you have supported. We have been tortured by the militias you have trained. You are well aware of that and yet, you hold hands with our torturers. We hold you, the European Commission, directly accountable for our suffering. We demand that you immediately stop funding criminals against humanity in Libya and that you provide us, the victims of your complicity, reparations for the harm you have caused.”
Mounir Satouri MEP, chair of the European Parliament DROI Committee, said: “Nearly a month on from the Libyan Coast Guard's deliberate and violent attack on humanitarians and survivors at distress at sea, the EU and Member States continue cooperating with those responsible as if nothing happened.”
Full text of open letter:
Dear Magnus Brunner and Dubravka Šuica,
CC: Ursula von der Leyen, António Costa, and Roberta Metsola,
On 24 August, the Libyan Coast Guard opened fire without warning on rescue ship Ocean Viking, operated by humanitarian maritime organization SOS MEDITERRANEE in international waters.
Coastguards fired a significant number of rounds in an assault which endangered the lives of over thirty crew members and eighty-seven survivors rescued from distress at sea. Analysis of the attack indicates that it was carried out from a boat transferred by Italy to the Libyan Coast Guard under the EU-funded SIBMMIL programme.
The attack is part of a long pattern of violence against people in distress at sea as well as humanitarian workers for which the perpetrators have remained unaccountable in Libya. While the European Commission stated that Libyan authorities are investigating the incident, weeks after the attack, there is no indication that cooperation, or technical and financial assistance, has been suspended during the course of this investigation.
The Libyan Coast Guard does not comply with the standards required to make it a legitimate search and rescue (SAR) actor, and is involved in violent attacks on people in distress during interceptions, as found by the Italian judiciary. Eight years of EU support has not improved this actor’s human rights records, but enabled and legitimised abuses, in violation of Article 29 of the NDICI regulation - which excludes activities that may result in human rights violations from EU funding.
While the EU and Member States’ cooperation with Libya are officially motivated by the need to save lives closer to Libyan shores, in reality, it prevents people seeking safety from reaching Europe. This involves steps by Libyan actors receiving EU funding and support to return people by force to a place where relevant UN mechanisms and many others have found evidence of inhumane acts at a scale amounting to crimes against humanity. This system leaves people seeking protection with two choices: risking death at sea or arbitrary detention, torture and extortion in Libya.
Despite overwhelming evidence, the Commission has denied that support to Libyan forces directly enables the perpetration of said human rights violations. Yet, it has committed maladministration by refusing to disclose the “do-no harm” assessments of its Libya projects, according to the EU Ombudsman.
This disastrous strategy has persisted for over a decade. It has cost lives, and it is high time that EU institutions stop tolerating unjustifiable attacks against people in distress at sea, and European citizens carrying out humanitarian work, by Libyan authorities funded by European taxpayers. This culture of impunity for violence has led to an erosion of respect for human rights and international and maritime law, and an escalation of aggression.
This year’s State of the EU address underlined the EU’s intention to seek a greater geopolitical role, as the bearer of values and standards in a turbulent world. To be taken seriously internationally in such an endeavour, words must match actions, starting near home.
Human lives must not be disregarded in the name of border control. The European Commission must restore the rule of law at its maritime border; suspend cooperation with Libya without further delay; urge Italy to terminate its 2017 Memorandum of Understanding with Libya; and urge other Member States to refrain from similar agreements. It must finance and coordinate a state-led European search and rescue programme in the Central Mediterranean. It must support states in opening safe routes for refugees and migrants to escape Libya, and reduce their reliance on dangerous routes. Finally, it must ensure that victims of the gross human rights abuses committed by EU-backed Libyan actors can access justice and reparation.
